Question 3
Describe the potential tension between maintaining an individual’s confidentiality and disclosing concerns. • Where abuse of a child or young person is suspected
All settings should have a designated person to deal with child protection issues. If you have concerns that a child is being abused it is our job to disclose this information to the designated/manager of the setting unless you think by disclosing the information will put the child/young person in further danger.
This can be very hard to work out so having colleagues to discuss this will help you come to a quick conclusion and more accurately. This can become very difficult if you feel that there is child/young person abuse issue and the designated/manager thinks that there isn’t. I think if you have a doubt then it is better to be safe than sorry, maybe monitor the child and gather more information but if the child is in significant danger then report it to the safeguarding board immediately.
Parents will have had a copy of the child protection policy which states that information regarding every child will be disclosed if it is deemed that any child is in significant harm/danger.
This gives us the right to report any kind of abuse to the safeguarding board without the parents/carers permission.
It is important to follow the right steps whilst reporting a case of abuse or a suspected case, we need to gather the correct information:
• When a child/young person discloses information to you. Do not promise to keep a secret. If the child/young person confides in us we cannot promise to keep it a secret because we will have to disclose the information given and this will make the child think that they cannot trust that person anymore, they trusted you in the first place to disclose the information. Also a main feature of sexual abuse is that the abuser asks the child to keep this a secret between them. If a child asks you to keep a secret age/stage appropriately you